1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of marine vessel design.
2. Prior Art
The present invention relates to improvements in “Flexible Ocean-Going Vessels with Surface Conforming Hulls” disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,874,439. That invention provides the fundamentals for the design of an entirely different type of vessel that creates the minimum possible disruption of the waves. In other words, the vessel does not push, slap or pierce the waves but instead “dances” with them.
That invention utilizes flexibility to change and adjust the vessel's structure and form to the water surface, instead of adjusting or changing the water to conform to the vessel. This method of adjusting the shape of the structure in motion to a fixed surface is used in skis that must follow the variation of the snow surface and absorb the shocks involved with moving over that surface at high speed. The vessel has a pair of flexible hulls flexibly coupled to a “cabin” between and above the hulls, thereby allowing the hulls to independently follow the surface of the water. Motor pods are hinged to the back of the hulls to maintain the propulsion system in the water, even if the stern of one or both hulls tends to lift out of the water when crossing swells and the like. The primary hulls disclosed are inflatable hulls, typically multi-compartment hulls for safety reasons. Various other embodiments and features are disclosed in that patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,911 discloses a method to connect the independent compartments of an inflatable boat with a pumping system, with valves between the chambers that can be opened to connect adjacent compartments or closed to isolate them. This invention relates to an automatically inflatable boat formed by a deck and separate inflatable compartments attached to the deck. An air pump is located on deck and is in fluid communication with the various compartments.
Another prior art vessel is Lockheed Martin's Covert High-speed Attack & Reconnaissance Craft (CHARC) described and shown in the November 2004 issue of Sea Power. As described therein, “The craft's upper hull is connected by two strut-like middle hull sections to two 5-foot-diameter pods in a catamaran-like configuration, a manifestation of the SWATH technology used in the Sea Slice demonstration craft. The upper hull structure to the rear of the cockpit is available for transporting special operations troops or modular mission payloads. The pods house the propulsion systems and compartments to carry mission systems such as antisubmarine torpedoes, inflatable rubber boats or autonomous underwater vehicles.” Unlike the vessels in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 6,874,439, there is one middle hull section on each side of the craft, each being a two section strut-like structure, with the pods being rigid. The pods are equipped with wheels for taxiing or parking on shore, and are intended to be totally submerged for high-speed operation, using fins for stability and control.